Electric socket.



vGr. C. KNAUFP.

ELECTRIC SOCKET.

APPLICATION FILED Amm, 1913.

Patented Mar.17,191@

GEORGE C. KNAUFE, OE'CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC sOCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

Application filed April 7, 1913. l Seri-a1 No. 759,399.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE C.' KNAUFF, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, haveinvented certain new an'd useful Improvements `in Electric Sockets; and I do hereby declare the i'ollowingjto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to sockets for electric lamps or plugs and more particularly to the class of sockets used vin connection with lamps or plugs having axially disposed endward contacts, such as the lamps used for the headI and tail lights of automobiles.

One object of my invention is to provide a simple construction in which an axially disposed contact plunger is maintained in effective electrical connection with a wire terminal positioned out of axial alinement with the said contact.

Another' object is to provide spring-actuated means for simultaneously maintaining the current-carrying parts of the socket in good contacting relation and holding the lamp interlocked with the socket.

A further object is to provide -a simple socket construction in which the effective action will not depend on great exactness in the positioning of the various parts.

Other objects will appear from the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section of a socket embodying my invention.- Figs. 2 and 3' are transverse sections through the socket of Fig. 1 along'lines 2 2 and 3-3 respectively. Figs. 4 and 5 arepartial sectional views of alternative embodiments of my invention. Fig. 6 shows` the socket of my invention as used with a shOrt-circuiting plug.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the socket of my invention has a cylindrical casing 1 equipped atl its forward ends with slots 2 having retaining formations at their inner ends; these slo-ts being adapted to receive, and to interlock with, projections 3 upon the base 4 of the lamp 5 to couple the lamp to the casing. The rear end of the casing 1 partially houses a cylinder G'of insulating material, which cylinder carries a pair of wire terminals 7 and 8, the said terminals bein positioned parallel to the axis of the insuating body 6 and of the' casing 1, but

rear end a bore adapted to cylinder isla plunger 2O which is out of aliiiement with the said axis. Each ot the wire terminals 7 and 8 has at its receive the bared end of a wire 9, which wire is secured to the terminal by a side screw 10. The v'main insulating body 6 is fastened to the casing 1 by a screw 11 passing through a portion of said body into the wire terminal 8, whereby the wire terminal is also electricallv connected or grounded to the' casing. v

Mounted within the casing 1 forwardlv of the insulating body 6, but between the latter and the interlocking formations 2 'of the casing, is an auxiliary insulating bodv 12,'wliich is held in place by a pin 13, and which has an axial perforation 14 in which a compressible contact member is adapted to sllde longitudinally of the casing. The said slidably mounted Contact member consists preferably of a cylindrical portion 15 housinga plungerl which is pressed outwardly by a spring 17 and which abuts at its forwardend against the central endward termin-al 18 of the lamp 5. The inner end 19 of the cylinder 15 is radially enlarged to form a head extending beyond the axis of the ungrounded wire terminal 7, which wire terminal has its Vinner end bored to form a cylinder. Slidably mounted in this ressed outwardly by a spring 21 and whic bears at itsforward end against the edge portion of the said enlarged member 19 of the slidably mounted contact member. v

When the lamp is withdrawn from the socket, the spring 21 will coact with the plunger 2O pressed forwardly thereby to slide the compressiblecontact member forwardly within the auxiliary insulating body 12 until the head 19 impinges against the latter. When the lamp is inserted, -it slides the Contact member toward the rear end of the socket, compressing' the springs 17 and 21 in so doing, whereby the said springs cause the plungers 20 and 14 to contact firmly with the head 19 and the contact tip respectively.

Instead of equipping both the wire terminal member 7 and the slidable contact member with spring-pressed plungers, one of the'said members may be made solid or incompressible, in which case the outward forcing of the sliding Contact is all done by a single spring. For example, Fig. 4 shows the wire terminal 7 as solid and as abutting directly against the head 19 of a Contact member equipped with a spring-pressed 1plunger 16. Fig. 5 shows a contact member 16 made of a single brass turning and abutting at its enlarged inner end against the spring-pressed extension or plunger 20 of the wire terminal 7. In either case, it will be noticed that the spring forcing the contact member forwardly will simultaneously maint-ain this contact member in good contacting 4relation to the wire terminal and the lamp terminal, and will also coact with the interlocking formations upon the casing of the lamp base for .holding the lamp coupled wit-h the socket. Thus, in the form shown in Fig. 5, the pressure of the spring 21 o n the abutting plungers 20 and 16 will tend to slidenthelampbase forwardly of the casing and in doing so will hold the projections 3 in the notches 22 at the inner ends of the slots 2. j y

-The body of the contact member is preferably cylindrical so that it may rotate freely Within the auxiliar insulating body 12, thereby causing the e ge portion of the enlarged member 19 and the tip of the eX- tension 2O 'of the wire terminal to rub upon each other so as to maintain clean and well conducting contact surfaces. `By equipping both the insulated wire terminal member and the sliding'contact member with springs and plungers, I permit both of these members to adjust themselves to variations `caused by irregularities of workmanship, so as to avoid the cramping or binding of parts which might otherwise be caused by Athe coaction of members positioned out of axial a alinement with one another.

While the socket of my invention is particularly adapted for use with incandescent lamps, 1t may also be used with other con- 4 tact carriers, provided that the latter are equipped with interlocking formations and with endward contacts adapted to abut against the tips of the slidable contact members of the sockets. Thus Fig. 6 shows my socket as used with a short-clrcuiting plug consisting of a rubber cylinder 23 havin l an enlarged knob or head 24 at its outer en and an endward contact 25 at its inner end. The end contact 25 is held in position by a screw 26, the ends of which form the projections for interlocking the plug with the notches of the slots upon the casing. It will be evident from Fig. 6 that when the plug is in position, the screw 26 will short-circuit the socket by making an electrical connection between the contact plunger 16 and the casing to which one of the wire terminals is grounded. Consequently, the inserting of the plugjwill electricallyl connect the wires, while the removing of t e plug will disconnect the same, so that the plug coacts with the socket to serve vas a switch.

While I have illustrated my invention as embodied in a socket having the main inlateral sulating body rojecting beyond one end of the casing, I o not wish to be limited to this ,or other details 'of the construction disclosed herewith, it being obvious that lthe same might be modifie-d in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as'my invention:

1. In a socket for a contact carrier provided with a contact, a casing connected to one terminal of a circuit and equipped at its forward end with means for coupling the casing with the contact carrier; a main and an auxiliary insulating body mounted in the casing, the latter forwardly of a wire terminal member carried by the main insulating body and connected to the other terminal of the said circuit, and a contact member slidably mounted upon the auxiliary l insulating body, each ofthe said members g5 including two relatively slidable portions and a spring interposed therebetween; thel free ends of the contact member abutting respectively against the forward end of the i wire terminal member and against the said `9g contact of the contact carrier; the said springs simultaneously tending to separate the said relatively slidable portions to eifect the said abutting engagements, and coacting with the said coupling means for maintainn ing the casing in its coupled relation to the contact carrier.

2. In a socket for a contact carrier equipped with projections and carryin a contact, a casing equipped with notched 10o slots receiving the said projections, the notches of the said slots interlocking with the said projections to couple the contact carrier to the casing; a contact member axially mounted vwithin the casing and insulating therefrom, one end of the said member abutting against the said contact of the contact carrier, the other end of the said member radially enlarged; a wire terminal member out of axial alinement with the contact member and bearing at one end against the said radially enlarged portion of the contact carrier; one of the said members comprising a pair of relatively slidable porltions and a spring interposed therebetween,

thesaid spring coacting with the said members to tend to eject the contact carrier from the casing the said ejectional tendency coacting with the notches ofthe slots and the said projections on the contact carrier to maintain the latter coupled to the casing.

3. A socket for a contact carrier equipped with an axially disposed contact and with rojections, comprising a ca'sin equippe at its forward end with notched slots respectively receiving'the said projections, the notches of the said slots inter-4 locking with thesaid rojections to couple the contact carrier to t e casing; main and auxiliary insulating bodies mounted within 13 the former; 80

'auxiliary insulating the casing, the latter forwardly of the former; a. contact member mounted upon the body axially thereof, one end of said member abutting against the said contact of the contact carrier, the other end thereof radially enlarged; and a wire terminal member carried by the main insu lating member out of aXia-l alinenient with the said contact member and bearing at its forward end against the said enlarged end of the contact member, one of said members comprising two relatively slidable portions and a spring` interposed therebetween, the said spring serving to effect the said abutn ting of the members and coacting with the said notches and projections to maintain the contact carrier coupled to the casing.

4. A socket for' a contact carrier equipped with an axially disposed contact and with lateral projections, comprising a casing equipped at its forward end with. notched slots respectively receiving the said projections, the notches of the said slots interlocking with the said projections to couple the contact carrier to the casing; main and auX- iliary insulating bodies mounted within the casing, the latter forwardly of the former;

a contact member mounted upon the auxilary insulating body axially thereof, one end of said member abutting against the said contact of the contact carrier, the other end thereof radially enlarged; and a Wire terminal member carried by the main insulating member out of axial alinement with the said contact member and bearing at its forward endl against the` said enlarged end of the contact member the said terminal member connected to one 'terminal of a circuit, one of said members comprising` two relatively slidable portions and a spring interposed therebetween, the said spring serving to effect the said abutting of the members and coacting with the said notches and projections to maintain the contact carrier coupled to the casing; and a second wire terminal carried by the main insulating body and electrically connected to the casing, the

said second terminal being connected to the other terminal of the said circuit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witv nesses.

GEORGE C. KNAUFF.

lVitnesses:

ALBERT SCHEIBL'E,

M. M. BOYLE. 

